Halfway Home

The Mets face a pair of division leaders this week as the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves come to Citi Field in the final homestand prior to the All-Star break.

The Reds took two of three from the Mets when the the two teams faced one another in Cincinnati two months ago, with all three contests being decided in the final at bats of the game. The Reds won the opener, 3-2, in 11 innings on Laynce Nix’ home run. The Mets took the middle game on Rod Barajas’ home run in the top of the 9th but Cincy would take the rubber game, 5-4, in the 10th, thanks to Orlando Cabrera’s game-ending homer.

The Mets and Braves have played just five times so far in 2010 with New York winning four of the meetings, including a three-game sweep at Citi Field in late April. The Mets’ lone loss to the Braves came in walk-off fashion as David Wright’s throwing error in the bottom of the 9th allowed the winning run to score in a 3-2 defeat.

The Mets reached the 81-game, halfway mark of the season this past Saturday. Their 45-36 record through 81 games was their best since 2007 when they were 46 and 35 at the season’s mid-way point. The Mets posted 40-41 and 39-42 marks through 81 contests in 2008 and 2009. Their 56 and 25 record halfway through the 1986 season remains the best in club history. The 1962 and 1964 Mets were both 23 and 58 after 81 games played, tied for the worst mark ever posted by the franchise.

The Mets have gone 77 and 87 in their 164 games played since July 4th of last season through July 4th this year. Here are the best and worst records in the National League in the last calendar year, from July 4th 2009 through July 4th, 2010:

This week will mark the one-year anniversary of the trade which brought Jeff Francoeur to the Mets from the Atlanta Braves. Here are Francoeur’s numbers in the one calendar year since joining New York: (through games of 7/4)

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SLG OBP

156 565 73 162 33 3 18 83 .287 .454 .325

Here are the numbers for Ryan Church, who the Mets sent to the Braves for Francoeur and is currently with the Pittsburgh Pirates:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SLG OBP

98 272 35 61 20 1 5 32 .224 .360 .292

Last week, the Phillies Jamie Moyer allowed his 506th career home run, passing Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts on the all-time list for the most allowed in a major league career. Here is where some one-time New York Mets pitchers rank on that dubious list: